What Truly Matters
by Dean's Dirty Little Secert
Summary: What could be worse for a new relationship, than finding out you knocked up some girl thanks to a hormone drug released in the air? Finding out, you knock up S.H.I.E.L.D's one and only psychologist, who has as much emotions as Kristen Stewart does in Twilight...or maybe that was just around him. Tony/OC, slight Tony/Pepper, slight Hawkeye/Oc
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Don't kill me, Don't Kill me, please don't kill me. This is my first Tony Stark fic ever and I am extremely nervous about. I know this is set before the Avengers, but because my OC is extremely involved with S.H.I.E.L.D and if this gets even people interested in it, this will eventually make it into the Avenger's plot line. Anyway I've also published another fic for Ironman, so I am curious to see what one does better. Mainly because the one that does the best will be continued. **

**Please review so I know whether or not to continue.**

**~Cassandra**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers, if anything they own me.**

"I'm pregnant with your baby." The words slipped out of Arianne's mouth easier than she expected. There had been no hesitation or nervous stuttered like when Marie practiced in the mirror. It was straight and to the point. Which was probably for the best seeing who, Arianne was talking to. Across her, the billionaire stared at her gaped as if surprised by her bluntness. Besides him, the red haired woman shot him a disgusted and disapproving look. It the billionaire a full three seconds to recover his ability to think and respond.

"How did you get in?" he demanded to know.

Arianne's cupid bow shaped lips twitched into a sadistic smirk. "Let's just say I have friends who care."

Unhesitatingly she moved across the large room to take a seat on the nearest couch. She wasn't far enough into her pregnancy to really feel the weight of the baby yet, let alone start showing, however the doctor had insisted on Arianne taking it easy. Something about being the stress of her job being harmful to the baby. "That doesn't answer my question-and how the hell did you override Jarvis? Only S.H.I.E.L.D has been able to override-" the billionaire stopped in his track. His brown eyes widening slightly. "Son of a bitch, you're a S.H.I.E.L.D monkey!"

"You know for a genius, you're really slow. Kind of disappointed actually." Arianne replied, relaxing into the couch. Once again the billionaire glared marching over to her, about ready to kick her out more than ever. Like all people recently though, he backed down quickly upon receiving a coldhearted stare from the hormonal woman. Yes, she was on some terms part of S.H.I.E.L.D (she was a psychologist though-no one real important), but Arianne was in no way at Tony Stark's house for business. It was all personal…truly personal.

"Look if S.H.I.E.L.D wants me to do anything for them, then they need to abide by my time frame. Consulting hours are ten AM to two PM every other Wednesday, now if you would be so kind as to leave, Pepper and I were right in the middle of something before you so rudely interrupted." Tony said sternly.

Arianne simply rolled her brown eyes at him, not bothering to move a muscle. There was no way she would leave until Tony listened to what she had to say. "You did a consulting job for a S.H.I.E.L.D about two months before ago-it was for the finalization of the Helicarrier, I believe-"

"So? That's my job, I'm a consultant for S.H. .D." Tony cut off, as if trying to prove a point.

She gave him a pointed look, that convinced the infamous Pepper Potts to step in. Whatever reason this woman was here for, Pepper had a feeling she would not be leaving until whatever she wanted from her boyfriend was received. Moreover though, the last thing any of them needed was Tony picking a fight with a S.H.I.E.L.D agent. "Whatever are you doing here Ms?"

"Sanders. Arianne Sanders. Not to be rude Ms. Potts, but this is something between Tony and I. And while I have no problem with you hearing this, I'm sure Tony would prefer it, if he could tell you later on." Arianne replied politely, her eyes burning into Tony's.

Pepper frowned not liking the insinuation behind the young woman's tone. Luckily for her though, years of working for Tony had taught he patience…as well as how to control her temper. However that did not stop her from shooting Tony a look. Being the genius Tony was, he instantly picked up on what his fiancée was saying and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. He glared down at the brunette on the couch with fury. "Anything you have to say can be said in front of my fiancée."

"Fine, your choice." Arianne said, bored. "But I have two words for you…sex pollen."

His eyes widened at the words brought on a startling remembrance. Two and a half months ago, Fury called him about a in issue with the building of the Helcarrier. The issue was easily fixed thanks to Tony's brilliance, however another problem soon arose. One that couldn't be so easily fixed by him. A recent disgruntled fired S.H.I.E.L.D employ decided to take his revenge by releasing the pollen of a plant known for its potent reproductive sex hormone into the vents. Pollen which Tony wasn't fortunate enough to escape. "Actually Pepper, if you don't mind I actually would like to talk to Arianne alone." Tony restated quickly.

She gave a him look letting him know they would be talking later on. Which he didn't doubt with the way Arianne threw the words 'sex pollen' out there. Him and anything to do with sex, was never a good thing-at least not when it didn't involve her directly. Nonetheless his fiancées left-stormed out of the room, but left nonetheless. He turned his attention back towards the uninterested S.H.I.E.L.D agent. "You have twenty seconds to explain why the hell you're here, and if I'm not satisfied with your answer I'm calling Fury to report a rogue agent." Tony warned.

"He knows already knows I am here." She mentioned blandly. "The man was the one who insisted that I at least informed you."

"Informed?" Tony repeated, cocking an eyebrow.

"I told you, I'm pregnant with your baby. All thanks to that fucking sex pollen, Edwards released." Arianne elaborated, frowning. Her dark eyes flashed with fury that normally would have chilled Tony to the bone, if he weren't caught on one simple fact. She was pregnant….In his whole career as a playboy, he never impregnated a woman. The one time he had sex while in a now committed relationship though with a woman who wasn't Pepper-which by the way wasn't his fault, it was that fucking sex pollen-he managed to knock her up.

"You're pregnant…" he muttered unsure. Then the most unintelligent thing ever left his mouth. "How is that possible?"

"Well for us, it started when that sex pollen was released, causing a surge of libido and hormones in our body. Thus making us fuck the person closest to our instinctive reproductive needs like rabbits; which just happened to be me, for you. Anyway sometime when your dick was inside of me, you came and one of those fucking Stark sperms of yours found its way to my egg." Arianne explained sarcastically. "Do I need to go into any more detail?"

"I know very well how it works." He snapped back, frustrated.

Arianne shrugged. "Well you asked."

He stared at her incredulous. Never had he met someone so impassive before. It was like the woman was Kristen Stewart or some other emotionless nut. "What do you want? Money? Will that make you go away-"

"I am not here for money, Mr. Stark. Believe it or not, I make a fair amount of money working for S.H.I.E.L.D." Arianne interrupted, anger underlining her voice. Her dark brown eyes flashed dangerously up at him. She pushed herself off the couch; her timing slower than normal thanks to the change in balance from the baby. Fortunately though, Tony was none the wise to her change in speed. "I am here simply, because I agree with Director Fury."

Tony cocked an eyebrow, curious as to what Director Fury and her agreed upon. Whatever it was, Tony doubted that he would like. After all very rarely did Tony like anything Fury related that involved him. "And what exactly did you and Eye-patch agree about?"

She gave him a small smile, before grabbing a large tan file from the purse she brought. A flash of nervousness appeared on her face so fast Tony almost didn't catch it. Tony frowned, trying to recall the last time he saw a S.H.I.E.L.D agent nervous. Whatever Arianne wanted from him, it definitely couldn't be good. "I told you, I wasn't here to ask for money…I am here though, to see if you have any interest in being involved with your child. If not, then I have the papers necessary for you to sign, relinquishing all your obligations and rights to my child." Arianne explained hesitantly. " However, that is absolutely your choice. Otherwise, I have no quarrels about you playing a role in their life."

He nodded, swallowing the hard lump that formed in his throat by her words. He had no idea what to do. In all his life, Tony had never once really considered having children. Not even now during his steady relationship with Pepper, did the idea of having children come up. Could he even be a dad? His own dad was a disaster of a father, seeing how it was only a few months ago Tony even found his dad cared for him. And if his father's own bad example wasn't enough to make him question his parental abilities, there was all the other factors. The fact that he drank his weight in liquor every night, his ability to disappear for the days when working on projects, the endless stalking of paparazzi, and so much more, none which was father material.

Then there was Pepper's and his blossoming relationship. Sure Pepper was an amazing woman and put up with all of Tony's craziness calmly….but this was just a little too crazy. He was having a kid with some woman, he essentially raped under some hormone drug. It was too much even for him. Frustrated Tony ran a hand through his hair unsure what to do. The more selfish part of Tony told him to sign the papers there and then; his conscious argued differently though. In no way would he ever be the world's greatest dad, but at least he could attempt to be a good one. "You want me to give up the right to my child?" Tony asked numbly.

"Only if you want ." Arianne repeated. Her dark eyes filled with honesty.

"Why?" he pressed. If she really cared more about the child than money or fame, then why ask him to be involved. Wouldn't the child be better off without someone like him as a father?

Arianne shrugged, a blank expression on her face. "I don't know. My father was never a part of my life, so I guess you could call it, daddy issues. I would like my child to have loving father, even if he's a gigantic asshole to everyone else."

A low humorless chuckled escaped him. "Loving father? Me?"

Once again she shrugged, her eyes drifting around the room as if taking in the surroundings. He watched her, trying to decipher each of her movements. This woman was odd that was for sure. She reminded him nothing of any the other female S.H.I.E.L.D agents he had met before. They tended to keep their emotions guarded twenty-four seven, while Arianne kept having slips of emotions. Not enough for him to read her as easily as Tony could Pepper though. "From my analysis of you, I figured your attitude towards your own children would be one of two ways." Arianne finally answered with a sigh.

"One of two ways?" Tony questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"You would either accept your children whole heartedly for who they are, and do your best to be a better father than your own." She paused. "Or be worse than your own father, and rejected them completely."

"And you came up with all this from what? The tabloids? Since when were S.H.I.E.L.D agents psychologists?" Tony drilled. He surprisingly upset by the accusation of being worse than his own father.

"Since I graduated university as one." Arianne replied blandly. "I'm not an agent. I'm S.H.I.E.L.D's psychologist. I deal with the mental health of the majority of S.H.I.E.L.D employees, as well as do analysis on the personalities of certain people considered for the Avengers Initiative. Although I must say, your case unfortunately wasn't one of mine. "

"You know about the avengers. Then you must know that your friend Agent Romanov said about me. Volatile, self-obsessed, don't play well with others…." Tony listed off with a disgusted look on his face.

"I believe she said you had compulsive behavior, was prone to self destructive tendencies, and was a textbook narcissus. All which appear to be true." Arianne corrected, with a soft smile. Her eyes actually held a small glint of humor in them.

Tony scoffed. "None which are fathering attributes."

Instantly the smile and humor slipped from her face, a cold look replaced it. She pushed the file outwards to him, a frown marring her face. "Call me crazy then, because I honestly believe that having an stupid-but loving father is better than none. Besides the baby will be with me the majority of the time, so you don't have to worry about scarring them too badly. Either way as I said before it is your decision. If you're so against being a father, then sign. Since, I have other things to do than waste my time here."

"I'm not signing them." He said firmly, making his decision. Whether Tony liked it or not, Arianne was right. He fell into one of her categories, and that was the category to do better than his father. Unlike his father, Tony would always be there for his child.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: Chapter Two! This is a rather slow chapter, nothing much really happening. Next chapter however we'll get to a lot more action, an appearance from a couple special S.H.I.E.L.D agents-and a lot more about Arianne. Anyway I hope you guys enjoy it. **

**Question: Arianne is not Mary-Sue is she? **

**~Cassandra**

**Disclaimer: Sadly I'm not rich enough to own the avengers.**

"You really don't have to do that." Arianne mentioned, eyeing Pepper as she moved over to the kitchen. The red head had surprisingly taken the news of her new boyfriend knocking up some other woman rather well. However Arianne supposed with it being Tony, it really was only a matter of time before he did. Still Arianne didn't expect for the woman to treat her so kindly; though it would be a lie to say Pepper wasn't mad at Tony.

She had been glaring at him since the words 'had sex with her' came out of his mouth, and it only worsen upon hearing 'she's pregnant.' Luckily for all of them, Pepper seemed to calm down a lot upon the explanation of sex pollen and Arianne completely rejecting any interest in Tony outside of being their child's dad. Arianne didn't lie about her intentions in visiting Tony. It was for the sake of their future child and that alone. "It's fine, really. It will only take two seconds." Pepper insisted, rummaging through the pantry.

Across from her, Tony glared obviously still uncomfortable by Arianne's presence in his home. She sighed tucking one of her long strands of brown hair behind her ear. It wasn't that she expected Tony to be any friendlier. Like with Pepper, she expected him to be worse-actually in truth Arianne expected him to sign the papers and kick her out; you could imagine her surprised when he refused. No, what Arianne hadn't expected was how sensitive she'd be. After all Arianne was a member of S.H.I.E.L.D, so why the hell would she be sensitive..oh yeah, pregnancy and hormones. "Ah-ha! Found them." Pepper announced rushing back into the living room.

With a kind smile, she handed the box of chocolate-chip cookies over Arianne. Returning the smile, Arianne took them grateful. Since week three, her pregnancy cravings were in high gear demanding for the most random food items at the most random time. They were so bad, it drove most of her friends crazy. In fact last week, her poor best friend was kind enough to buy her bananas, peanut butter, and vanilla ice cream at three in the morning. Another reason why the man was her one true friend. "So do you get cravings often?" Pepper asked.

"Quite a lot. I was actually a little worried about them, since they occurred so often. However Dr. Fugate reminded me that I had strange food cravings even before I was pregnant." Arianne revealed. Her cheeks heated slightly at her confession. Maybe her craving were always bad to begin with. She would have to ask Clint later on.

"Dr. Fugate?" Tony questioned. A disgruntled look crossed his face. "Never heard of him. Which is exactly why I don't like him. Cancel whatever other appointments you have with him, you'll no longer be seeing him. Jarvis find me the best OBGYN there is and schedule an appointment for Ms. Sanders to see him."

"Right away sir." The disembodied voice replied.

Tony smirked happily, glancing over at Arianne. "Only the best for my kid, remember that."

Arianne rolled her eyes. While she was happy about hearing Tony call the baby his, she didn't appreciate being told what to do. Especially with the contract, Pepper insisted on Arianne signing 'just in case,' stating that until DNA proved otherwise the baby was not Tony's. "First off, Dr. Fugate is the best at what _she_ does. If she wasn't, S.H.I.E.L.D would never employ her. Secondly she's a good friend of mine, so no I won't be going to whatever doctor, you want me to." Arianne informed. "This baby may be part you, but that doesn't mean you can make those decisions."

Tony blinked. "Wait S.H.I.E.L.D has an OBGYN? Why the hell would they have one of those? I mean, how many times can sex pollen be released? It's repetitive after the first time."

Pepper smacked his chest, chastising him softly under his breath. Once more Arianne rolled her eyes. Fury, Natasha and Coulson weren't lying when they said Tony was exasperating. "Like I said for a genius, you're rather stupid. S.H.I.E.L.D agents get raped every so often on the field." Arianne murmured softly.

Being S.H.I.E.L.D's only psychologist meant Arianne dealt with the psychological effects of such aftermath. None which were pretty, but then again when did anything Arianne deal with pretty? Fury once even said she almost had it harder than him, because she _knew_ every tick and mark of every S.H.I.E.L.D operative's mind except his own and a few others agents. "That's awful." Pepper sympathized.

Arianne shrugged her veil of coldness appearing yet again. "It's the name of the game. Every woman who joins S.H.I.E.L.D knows what they risk."

It went silent for a second before Tony snapped his fingers. "Either way this guy-"

"Girl." Both Arianne and Pepper said simultaneously.

"Girl-whatever, my point is that he-_she _is a S.H.I.E.L.D monkey and S.H.I.E.L.D monkeys can't be trusted. Therefore you will be going to…." Tony paused looking up at the ceiling. "Jarvis?"

The A.I gave a tired sish as if actually annoyed by Tony's antics. Arianne stared up at the ceiling, wondering vaguely how close the A.I was to actually being human. Not even S.H.I.E.L.D with all their geniuses could come up with such an A.I as Jarvis. She made a mental note to ask Fury, to have S.H.I.E.L.D cook one up just to annoy Tony. The man was always looking for subtle ways to annoy the billionaire, even if he did insist Arianne see him about their kid. However with how much Tony annoyed Fury and the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D, she couldn't blame him for wanting a little revenge. "Ms. Sanders has an appointment with Dr. Connelly in New York next week at three O'clock for a checkup ." Jarvis answered.

"Like hell." Arianne snorted. "I'm not buying a plane ticket all the away to New York for one visit. Nor am I going to miss work to fly out and fly in. And lastly, neither me or our child is going to be exposed to any media attention. The last thing a helpless baby needs is to be thrown out to a pack of wolves like the tabloids, especially with who it's father is."

A tired sigh escaped Pepper as she turned towards Tony. "Ms. Sanders has a point. You have always had enemies Tony, and you being ironman, you're only continuing to gain more."

Tony frowned, silently adding his danger factor to reason why he'd be a bad dad. He glanced over Ms. Blank-Slate Agent taking in her overall appearance. The woman claimed to be merely a psychologist for S.H.I.E.L.D, but there had to more to her than that. No one in S.H.I.E.L.D was just simply something. Everyone there possessed some type of skill that made them dangerous. Her included. "What about her? You work for what is essentially the world's greatest spy organization. Don't tell me, you don't have enemies." Tony accused.

"I don't." Arianne replied bluntly. Tony sputtered about to argue otherwise when she raised a finger to silence him. "I won't lie and say that I am not a valuable asset to S.H.I.E.L.D. I am very valuable, thanks to my profession. In fact you can even say I am close to Director Fury in importance. After all, I know everything there is about nearly every member of S.H.I.E.L.D. I know their past, their presents, their strengths, their weaknesses, what they love and what they fear. For anyone against S.H.I.E.L.D , I would indeed be of significance. Luckily though my existence within S.H.I.E.L.D is virtually non-existent. There are no files on me, electronically or hard copy. And what little you can find out from S.H.I.E.L.D agents will never be enough to find me. So no I don't have any enemies and as long as I stay a rumor of the imagination, I never will."

"Well, that's reassuring…." Tony muttered earning a nudge in the ribs. He glared at Pepper, who merely gave him a bored look. The red-head was obviously used to his antics. Arianne couldn't help, but smile slightly as she took another cookie. Damn food cravings….they were going to make her fat.

"I promise you, Tony. Our child will be perfectly safe." Arianne repeated. "They'll be surrounded by nothing, but loving and protecting people."

"Like who? Fury? Romanoff? Coulson? Cause, they just radiate love and family." Tony rejected.

Arianne's smile grew tight, trying to control the anger building within her. Silently she reminded herself that on the outside neither director nor agents appeared to have a soul. And seeing how, the three barely let their guard down, it was no surprise Tony believed them to be cold. However the fact was far from the truth. Due to personally experience, Arianne knew how gentle and compassionate the three could be depending on the situation. Especially Director Fury and Agent Coulson, if it weren't for them, Arianne would've gone down a dangerously dark path. "Trust me, they are not as bad as you believe. Besides, it was the Director who insisted on me coming to see you, remember?" Arianne reminded. "If it weren't for his support, I probably would be at home right now, trying to figure out what to do."

"Fury's close to someone that's surprising." Tony commented. Once again Pepper elbowed him.

This time Arianne let out a small laugh. "So I've been told."

"How'd you do it? Mind Control? Sex appeal? What gets his ice block of a heart unfrozen?" Tony questioned.

"Well…" Arianne said, cocking her head slightly. Her mind raced to find an answer, that didn't involve revealing her whole entire past. It wasn't anything pretty. Moreover, anything Arianne wanted to share with some strangers. Even if one of them happened to be the father of her baby. "Let's just say, all it take is a lost little girl."

He quirked an eyebrow. "Lost little girl, doesn't sound like S.H.I.E.L.D's or Fury's usual M.O."

"You're right it's not." Arianne agreed.

The billionaire's eyebrow rose further up. Millions of questions lingered in his eyes. So many that Arianne had no doubt that he would attempt to do a background check on her. Unfortunately for him though, S.H.I.E.L.D erased any and all incriminating files on Arianne upon taking her in. He opened his mouth-probably preparing to interrogate her more, when Pepper cut him off. "Well, it sounds like this child is going grow up surround by nothing, but love." She smiled softly. "I assure, that your child will receive the same warm on our side as well."

Arianne returned the smile. "I don't doubt that, especially if you're involved Ms. Potts."

The woman's smile grew a little wider. A kind happy look gleamed in her eyes. One that didn't show any underlining falsity or dislike. Which was a relief for Arianne. A war with the CEO was the last thing Arianne wanted. "Well, I will certainly do my best to make sure Tony behaves." Pepper joked.

"You have my complete faith." Arianne teased.

"Hey, you're the one who decided to get me involved." Tony reminded, looking a little disgruntled.

"I know. So, you better not prove me wrong."

"Me? Never." Tony replied, smirking . Arianne couldn't help, but smile more at him. She had been dreading this meeting for so long. Afraid for her child's future-afraid for her own future. Although that fear was still not completely gone. Their child was the child of two very important people. One who's importance was known to the world, and the other, who's importance was only known by the world's most powerful/important people. It was a recipe for disaster, but also a recipe for success if done right. And Arianne could only hope for the latter.

** Thanks to Alley Downey and Otaku Wench for reviewing.**

**Alley Downey: Yes, unfortunately this is a Tony/OC fic. I don't trust myself to write in character fics. However I assure you, this isn't one of turn Pepper into the bad guy fic. Moreover I am one for slow building relationship, so Pepperony will be around for a while.**

**Otaku Wench: Haha, I'm trying for something new. So tell me, how I am doing. ;)**


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